Japanese Flute
One of my Internet friend, Mr. Don Plym (Arizona, USA) first sent me an e-mail saying "I saw your home page. I also love music. Cake is one of my taste as well.
"When I learned that he had a plan to visit his old friend in Oita, I suggested that
he come to my home. This was our first encounter. He made a trip to
Japan and visited us again. Our address was included in his visiting list.We had a chance to enjoy a Japanese music concert during his stay. I dressed myself up in Kimono after a long time. We went together to the municipal Noh hall located in the Peace park to the east of downtown Oita. The hall is in the Japanese garden with a pond. Many citizens come and enjoy the garden. The Noh hall was built in 1990. It is one of the greatest Noh hall in Japan. We were welcomed by a marvelous relief of an elegant "Tennyo", or Angel, painted on the tile.
We got the best seats at the center front of the theater. Mr.Sanzaemon Takara,
the human national treasure, Mr.Hyakkei Fukuhara, and the member of Hyakkei's Japanese
flute club, all dressed up in the formal traditional cloths, performed excellent
traditional Japanese music and dance. My husband's friend Mr.Yukuo Oda was among them.
Mr.Don was deeply moved to see the performance of Koto and Shamisen for the first time in his life. I was also excited to have such a rare chance to hear the Japanese music like this time. All of us were so moved that we needed to cool ourselves down. We dropped in the tea room of a hotel on the way back home. Mr. Don was very fond of cake.
We went home. The dinner was "Yudofu", or boiled Tofu. As Mr. Don is a vegetarian, my
husband and I became temporarily vegetarians for the week. Tofu is a very healthy food.
It is to be boiled with a lot of vegetables. "Root vegetable is recommended to cook
in the Yudofu dish. Dark green vegetables are also delicious" Mr. Don smiled.
We talked much about the US and Japan, and deepened our friendship over the vegetable hotpot.